Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-08-10
INFAMlES OF THE MINES.
The Worst OF All the kbuses-The
"Compsny Doctor Miners
Must Pay Him Whether or 10.
DrunkRrd Who Has 5000 Patients.
Southern Shareholders Paid Their Doc
tors-These slaves Taxed for Him,
NV York World

sWorn BY the most solemn Oaths 10 faith
fitness and zeal il the prosecution OF his
noble professionalism often ne fails
through laZiness or dishonesty TO live up
10 the provisions Of his iron-cled oG(a
and prostitutes the grsndest CT al call
ings TO ignOble ends,
1t seems almost Incredible, but 1t is
true, ;hat the GCctor is one of the gi.deI
links II he chain that binds the cOcl
slaves of Pennsylvania. Yes, there are
men in this unhappy reglon-n!en who
wear the nonOred gown Of the doctors CT
medicine-who are not ashamed 10 st0op
10 the wringirg of unearned and uHwlli-
ingly given coins from the palms Of the
half-starved miners and their families
Some of them have grown fat and wealthy
from lac money thumbsCreWed out Of the
poor n their behalf. One of them, tie
member Of family of these doctors
emeritus" who twenty years ago trEv-
elled a5Cut on foot poor and friend
less, picking UP q dime or quarter
wherty Yer he Could-this gentleman is
COW the chief proprietor Of HazlebTook,
the hero Ct the heartless eVIctions which
have sirce been troWned upon By the law,
the builder Of Mauch Chunks most re
cent palace-Dr John Vent.
A DRUNKEN DOCTOR WITH 5000 ENFORCED
PATIENTS.
a few nights ago, while sitting on the
porch Of g hotel in one OF the chief cities
in the mining region, my attention was
called TO g young man, fashionably
dressed, who came staggering up the
street, considerably more than half seas
over.
"That man is one of the brightest,
smartest doctors in this part OF me
state" ssid the citizen who attracted my
attention to him. "But-well, you can
see for yourself that his worst enemy has
got hold OF him. 1t is too bad-a young
man II such promise and having such
enormous responsibilities"
"But surely" said, "a man with such
q failing csn have no practice 10 speak
OF"
practice! Aye, there's tae rub. He
has tremendous practice. 1t is com
pulsory practice. lie is the official
MUSICIAN at two or three
collleries. A thousand miners, n round
numbers, with their neutrality-suspicious.
5000 persons-are under his medical
supervision. If ne would only keep SO
Der it would be all right, suppose, but,
unfortunately, he was not always TO be
depended upon"
"Do You mean TO say" | cried, 6ghast,
"that SOD persons are compelled TO rely
on the services Of q young doctor who is
drunk2rd? ImpossIble.n
"My young friend" returned the old
citizen 3ryly, "theTe is nothing Impossi-
BILE up in this country, and pray you not
10 make the mistake of thinking there is.
SO far SIS c0mpUlSicp is concerned in this
and other instances that l know OF, the
case stands thus: Every married man
working for the companies which
make collections foT y0Lder drunken
saWbones is obliged 10 pay him 81 pet
year-E6y, II IS docked from his monthly
esrniDgs-and every single man con
tributes ST. II they wish TO psy this
tribute snd employ another physician they
are not denied that luxury, but as surely
as a man is found out doing this mis- ser
vices. are dispensed with. You ask why
1t is this: "1he company does not wan
: strange doctors about. They want their
own man. And then, when there IS ar
accident in their mines, why there IS nc
COroner's inquest and no trouble about :
certificate of death and all that. See?''
''B1y Cod Do you mean to say this
THIS IS the truthf
"Inyestigsie for yourself. make ne
pTotestatiOnS :"
AN INFAMOUS SYSTEM,
Well, / have investigated, and found
inst the cid citizen told the truth. There
have been crimes committed uu here
crimes of omission, crimes of commission
under this system of enforced doctor
ing which prevails at many of the mines
There have been deaths in the mines
aye, many OF them-caused by company
CaTelessnesS or ava1lcef and deliCatell
covered over by these richly paid attor'
neys. There have been women IN child
birth neglected because the doctor va:
of on a bit OF spree, or doing the soci
ETY. act in some fashionable event. There
have been dying people unattended
though they had long been taxed for at
tendance, for | do assure you, although il
Justice be it said that there are man,
good men and true among the "companl
DOCTORS" that as usual thing the col
lection of the tax is much better locked
after than the earning of the same.
But what is the use of talking about
the darker specific crimes which havt
b!eckened the history Of this mediCa
olackmail? The system itself is s crime
s system which places the lives and health
OF thousands in the hands of a salsrieC
physician, and in one instance, at least,
drunkard. That it has given birth 4
monsters of iniQuity is but natural
Slavery was ever the mother of devils.
call the system medical blackmai
adyisedly How much, think you, doe
the average miner require the services 0
doctor2 In case Of childbirth? Yes
but in that case there is a special chars,
of So for simple and regular case, witt
higher charges if the case be difficult
In case of accident? Yes; but in
majority of accidents the company shoult
Justly stand the surgical fees. Beyon'
these cases there is a precious little De
mand for the doctor in these mountain
attitudes. Miners children are proverb
islly healthy. Pure air and mountain
water, coarse fare, with no luxuries-fo
orchards do not flourish IN the middl
coal fields and candy is unknown in tn
childhood OF coaldom-these things max
young ones sturdy and disease stranger
"I've not had the doctor In the houst
this twenty year, only when the youns
uns came" is sentence | have hear(
from q score of hearty old miners
vet all that time these men hav
been bled blachmailed, taken by tn,
throat and made to deliver at the rate O
S? year, with extra taxation for tn,
only work the doctors did for them, ant
extrs charges for medicine supplied whel